To be honest, I started this post January 11th, and it is currently February 23rd, I have been avoiding this post for a while. I'm just going to pick up from January 11th and fill in things as best I can.
So where did we leave off...? Hm... the 7th... it mostly rained, didn't do much, just stayed inside, had some hot cocoa haha... It was nice, different, I enjoyed not being in the rain while it rains for a change, the time in Florida feels like it was spent outside most of the time.
January 8th, we did in fact, go over to Darby's friend's family's house and made a fire, checked out the little fishing spot they like to go to on the property, and made friends with Jasmine, Darby's friend and fellow backpacker/traveler. In addition to Jasmine, I met some of Darby's other friends, Taylor, and later her husband Jared, Stefanie and her boyfriend Tim, as well as her brother Jim, aka, "Jimberly." We had a fun time taking turns trying to split this big log, taking only 3 swings and removing the ax unassisted while also leaving it deeply embedded for the next person. There was also a fun moment we staged ourselves a little wedding of sorts, haha, involving Taylor's wedding dress, Stefanie, and her boyfriend Tim.
From the fun had on the 8th, the 9th was spent mostly being lazy and recovering from the massive hangover and complete exhaustion from such a long night of hanging out with Darby's friends, swapping stories, hanging out by the fire, and just drinking way too much.
When the 10th rolled around, I was feeling a lot better, just hanging out with Darby, she showed me this show called Harmon Quest, and we binge watched Rick and Morty, I can honestly say I get why people are going crazy waiting for the 3rd season, so funny and so smart! At one point, Darby looked at me and said I had the first genuine smile she'd seen from me in a while that night. I knew before then I'd miss her when I left, but I felt it pretty hard right then.
January 11th, I decided I was going for a walk to the beach, to try to clear my head, but it didn't really help. Darby however, helped me immensely with my backpack, such a difference from what I packed, I sincerely think if I had known this when I left, it could have been a huge factor on distance I was able to cover everyday. She said maintain a goal of 20 lbs, because when it's all said and done, it'll probably be about 30-35 lbs. Her friend Jasmine is doing a 20 lb backpack run of the Appalachian Trail, ultra-light weight and minimal, I am hoping I can find a way to do it with her, I feel like I would learn a ton.
The 12th was another day of nothing special, just thinking through things, my trip, and going over picture, showing Darby ones I hadn't posted, telling her more stories about some of the places I'd seen. I also worked on pictures from the start of the trip to now, so that felt good to be productive and have something to show for my time.
I feel like January 13th was pretty uneventful, checked out the beach again, just taking in Friday the 13th, being lazy, though it started cooling down so Darby picked me up when I was at the beach..
On the 14th, it was revealed I had never seen the movie Trainspotting, so everything was set aside so I could watch it haha. Mostly went through my bags and started sorting things out, finding things that had made their way out of my bag and spread out in Darby's apartment.
The 15th seen us back in Downtown St. Augustine, with Stefanie, hitting up a place called St. George Tavern, or The Tavern for short, it had a red door, the building having been there for quite some time. It was cool just hanging out, afterward, Darby and I went to Stefanie's to have wine and do puzzles while watching Rue Paul's Drag Race, or at least I think that was the name of it. It was pretty nice just hanging out, laughing, having wine and taking in a good time with less on my mind.
Stress builds, it's inevitable, upon waking on the 16th, knowing this was my last full day in St. Augustine, my last day hanging out with Darby, we first picked up a new gun case, I had sent mine to Utah previously to make room in my backpack. Afterward, we wandered around downtown St. Augustine, checking out the Lightner Muesum and Flagler College, or Hogwarts as Darby liked to call it. As the evening grew dark, we headed down to the beach at night, like we'd been planning, hit up Matanzas Inlet. Ended up seeing a ghost crab, the light from luminescent algae, and another little crab of some sort. It was really cool though, just walking around in the pitch black night, seeing stars shining like so many pinholes of light on a fake backdrop. I took quite a few pictures that night, I was really nice getting them, it was really nice being with her and nothing else, just ocean and stars.
As the 17th rolled over, time was spent hanging out with Darby, Taylor, and Jimberly, just hanging out in that perfect weather outside, having a smoke and beer, relaxing before my phone interview for a job back in Utah. Afterward, said goodbyes to Taylor and Jim and loaded up in Darby's car, heading to the airport, heading back to Utah.. Getting to the airport was a strange feeling, felt like I wasn't really leaving, I didn't expect to feel so sad about saying goodbye to Darby. We took a picture together before leaving out separate ways, I feel like we should have taken more together. I flew from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte, NC, meeting an actress by the name of Kristen Danielle, we had a pretty good conversation about life and where things were. She was headed to Charlotte to film, though it would have been nice if she was on the connecting flight to Salt Lake City, UT, where I was headed, she was nice company. I reached Utah tired, pretty sad, my time traveling not having been as therapeutic as I'd hoped, let alone as long. I had so many goals, so many things to work through, but I spent so much time trying to get somewhere warm enough to stay for long, carrying a backpack that was entirely way too heavy, and having spent my money early in the trip, just paying for rooms so I could stay warm.. Getting to Utah, in the middle of Winter, just felt like the biggest failure in recent memory.
As I said before, I started this one on the 11th, and then tried again on the 18th, the day following my return, but I just couldn't do it. Trying to work on the pictures from the last week has also proven to be quite the challenge.. I am disappointed I'm back, but I jumped in unprepared, and I've learned a great deal in my two months backpacking, as well as having learned a good amount about photography as well. I'm hoping to return to the road, in better weather, with more knowledge, and a much lighter backpack.
It's currently 5:53AM, on February 23rd, this post is pretty well done, though I have yet to add photos, and I need my editor to give it a read. My days are mostly consumed with job interviews, rebuilding life back here in Utah due to having to start over from square one all over again, and lots of karaoke, as well as the occasional event or photoshoot, the desire to grow and learn still all consuming. My reasons for leaving still remain, they will for a while, even when some of those reasons have gone their way much more than I have. Thank you for reading, CC:AA will stay active, albeit the Adventures will not be Abroad, my Chronicle still continue, and one day, I will be back on the road with them.
PS, it's March 2nd, 1:54PM and I'm finally posting this.. hopefully you all find it worth the read. Later days
“I promise I’ll be all you’ll need
Ever need
You’ll never have to shop around
(Don’t shop around)
And I’ll give you all you’ll ever need
Ever need
Don’t worry; I will never let you down
Let you down
Don’t worry; I will never let you down”